Are You Ready for Retirement? Take Our Red Zone Assessment

Most people measure retirement readiness by one number: their account balance. If it looks big enough, they feel ready. If it falls short of some round number they have in mind, they feel behind. The problem is that account balance alone tells only part of the story — and sometimes it tells a misleading one. A large balance in tax-deferred accounts is not the same as a large balance in after-tax accounts, because a significant portion of the former belongs to the IRS. Context matters more than the number itself.

True retirement readiness involves a set of interconnected factors: the reliability and sustainability of your income sources, your healthcare coverage and cost exposure, your debt obligations, your tax situation, your estate documents, and your spending projections. A retiree with $800,000 and a pension, low debt, and Medicare coverage may be in far better shape than one with $1.2 million, significant healthcare exposure, and a high monthly spend rate. The question is not how much you have — it is how much you can reliably spend each year without running out before your plan runs out of years.

The Red Zone concept — the five to ten years immediately before and after retirement — is where financial decisions carry the most weight. Errors made during this period, particularly around withdrawal timing, Social Security claiming, and asset allocation, are difficult or impossible to recover from. The stakes are higher because time is shorter and the sequence of market returns matters more than it ever did during the accumulation phase. A 20 percent market decline at age 40 is a temporary setback. The same decline at age 64, combined with ongoing withdrawals, can permanently impair a portfolio's ability to sustain a 30-year retirement.

Our Red Zone Assessment is designed to evaluate where you stand across several dimensions. It asks about your expected retirement date, your income sources and their reliability, your current savings rate relative to your projected needs, your healthcare plan, and your understanding of key risks — including inflation, longevity, and market volatility. The questions are designed to surface gaps that may not be obvious when you look at your finances through the lens of any single account or income source.

The assessment is not a pass-fail test. It is a diagnostic tool. Some participants score well on income reliability but have gaps in healthcare planning. Others have solid savings but have not addressed sequence-of-returns risk in their portfolio or considered how their withdrawal strategy will work during a market downturn. The results point to specific areas that need attention — which makes subsequent planning conversations more productive and more focused on what actually matters for your situation.

Income reliability is one area where the assessment often reveals surprises. Many pre-retirees count on a certain level of portfolio withdrawals without having tested whether that withdrawal rate is sustainable under adverse conditions. The traditional 4 percent rule — while a useful starting point — assumes a specific portfolio mix and a 30-year time horizon. If your retirement could last longer, or if your portfolio is more conservative than the assumptions behind that rule, your sustainable withdrawal rate may be lower than you expect.

Healthcare planning is another area where confidence often exceeds preparation. Medicare covers a great deal, but it does not cover everything — dental, vision, hearing, and most long-term care costs fall outside standard Medicare coverage. For Wesley Chapel and Tampa Bay residents, understanding the local healthcare options, including Medicare Advantage plans available in Hillsborough and Pasco counties, is part of building a realistic cost projection rather than relying on national averages that may not reflect your actual situation.

When you complete the assessment, you will receive a readiness profile that outlines your relative strengths and the areas that carry the most risk given your specific situation. For Tampa Bay and broader Florida residents, the assessment also accounts for state-specific factors — the absence of state income tax, Medicaid eligibility rules that differ from other states, and the particular insurance market in the region. These details matter because retirement planning is not one-size-fits-all, and where you live affects what you pay and what you keep.

The assessment is not a replacement for a full financial plan — it is an entry point, a way to surface the questions that matter most and to prioritize where to focus attention. Many people who complete it discover that their intuition about their readiness level does not fully match their actual situation, in either direction. Some feel less prepared than they actually are. Others discover blind spots they had not considered.

You can take the Red Zone Assessment at any time at no cost. It takes approximately ten minutes. The results are reviewed by our team, and we follow up with a brief summary and an invitation to discuss the findings in more detail if you choose. There is no obligation and no sales pitch — just a clear-eyed look at where you stand and what deserves attention next. To get started, visit our assessment at /quiz.